Improvement in potato-diggers



H. W. KING.

Potato Digger.

Patented March 30, 1875 No .l6l,520.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

THE GRAPHIC C0.PHOT0.-LlTl 'l.39&4-I PARK PLAGLN-Y.

Harman s'ra'rns Parana @rtaon HENRY W. KING, OF OANAAN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN POTATO-DIGGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,526, dated March30, 1875; application filed March 10, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. KING, of Canaan, in the county of Columbiaand State of New York, have invented a new and Improved CombinedPotato-Digger and Cultivator 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification, in which .i

Figure l is a sectional side elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view.

This invention relates to certain improvements in potato-diggers; and itconsists in the combination of a series of S-sh aped revolvingdigging-fingers with a second series of clearingfingers and a'pivotedinclined shakertable consisting of slats, the said digging-fingerslifting the potatoes and dirt from the hill, and the clearingfingerspassing between the diggers and transferring the potatoes anddisintegrated clods to the inclined table, which, being agitated by theunevenness of the ground, allows the dirt to pass through the slats andthe potatoes to be delivered at the rear. It,

also consists in the combination of a crankaxle bearing a gear-wheelwith a connectinglink and lever for throwing the operating mechanism outof gear. I

In the drawin g,A represents the framework, resting upon wheels B B,which are journaled upon a crank-axle, X, and carry cog-wheels O, thatmesh with wheels D. Said crank-axle is provided with an extension, a, alink, b, and an elbow-lever, 0, by means of which the connection betweenthe driving-wheels and the wheels D is broken, and the digging deviceslifted for continued transportation and turning corners. E is the draftattachment for the horses, and F is the tongue, which is pivoted at d,and free to move at its rear end in a yoke, e. G is a second lever,pivoted to the frame, and provided with an arm, which raises the freeend of the tongue in the yoke e for regulatin g the depth of the diggingdevices in the ground andliftin g the same over obstructions, theweightof the frame-work being so balanced upon the driving-wheels as toreadily admit, by means of these devices, of the elevation of the frontand the depression of the rear of the machine, and vice versa. H is awheel under the front part of the frame-work, contained within astandard, f, which is vertically adjustable by means of a slot andabinding-screw, g. I is the digger, revolving in the frame-work throughthe wheels D. Said digger consists of a series of separate andindependent fingers, 00, of an S-shape, and having flat sides in thedirection of their revolution. These fingers have shoulders g at themiddle, by means of which they are firmly held between the two pieces JJ, that constitute the shaft. One of these pieces, J, is made readilydetachable, so that it may be taken off and a new finger substituted fora broken one. K is the clearer, which is journaled in supports a littleabove and to the rear of the digger, and is revolved synchronously withit by means of the wheels L. Said clearer is, with respect toconstruction, almost identical with the digger having fingers attachedto a shaft in the same way, and of the same general shape, but nearlystraight. M is the shaker-table, pivoted to the frame-Work at h, andconstructed of siats, upon which the potatoes are raked by the clearerfrom the digger. The said table is inclined rearwardly, and is agitatedby the passage of a supporting-roller, N, over the rough ground, theroller being made with a swivel-joint to facilitate turning. Theoperation of this machine is as follows: The machine being in position,the crankaxle is shifted and the digger let down in such position as totake the row or hill, and the implement is driven down the hills oracross the rows, the hills or rows being of such a distance apart as toallow the digger to enter the same at every semi-revolution. Now, as thecurved ends of the S-shape digger-fingers lift a hill or portion of arow of potatoes, the clearer-fingers, registering in their revolutionwith the spaces between the digging-fingers, strike the dirtclods andpotatoes just about the time they are being delivered upon the table M,and with a positive motion break up and disintegrate the clods, anddeposit both the dirt and potatoes upon the table, when the dirt fallsthrough the slats from the agitation of the table, and the potatoes aredelivered over the inclined end of the table in the rear.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Therevolving digger I, consisting of the S-shaped fingers 00, havingshoulders g, the section J, and the detachable section J, all combinedand arranged substantially as and 'for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the diggerI with the clearer K and the table M,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the wheels D and the digging devices, of thewheels B B, carrying the cog-wheels G, the crank-axle X, and the devicesfor shifting the same, substantially as and for the purpose described.

HENRY W. KING. Witnesses:

SoLoN O. KEMoN, CHAS. A. PETTIT.

